Turbines are widely used in a variety of aviation, industrial, and power generation applications to perform work. Each turbine generally includes alternating stages of peripherally mounted stator vanes and rotating blades. The stator vanes may be attached to a stationary component such as a casing that surrounds the turbine, and each stage of rotating blades may be attached to a different rotor wheel located along an axial centerline of the turbine. The multiple rotor wheels may connect together to form a rotor. In this manner, a compressed working fluid, such as steam, combustion gases, or air, may flow along a gas path through the turbine. The stator vanes accelerate and direct the compressed working fluid onto the subsequent stage of rotating blades to impart motion to the rotating blades, thus turning the rotor and performing work.
Various systems and methods have been developed to axially and radially retain the rotating blades in the rotor wheels while also facilitating repair and/or replacement of the rotating blades. For example, each rotating blade may include a root section that slides into a complementary-shaped dovetail or fir tree slot in the rotor wheel. A hammer or other instrument may be used to plastically deform the root section and/or rotor wheel to stake the rotating wheel in place. Although effective at axially and radially retaining the rotating blades, the area available for staking on the root section and/or rotor wheel is somewhat limited. As a result, the plastic deformation associated with the staking may become progressively more difficult after each repair and/or replacement of the rotating blades. Therefore, an improved system and method for attaching the rotating blade in the turbine would be useful.